The business trip was canceled at the last minute. Mike found out while he was already at the airport, less than an hour before his flight. The client called personally, apologized, and explained something about unforeseen circumstances and a scheduling change, but Mike barely listened.
Only one thought echoed in his mind—he could go home five days early. Ellie would be thrilled. She was always thrilled when he came home. She’d meet him at the door, hugging him so tightly you’d think he’d been gone for a year, not a week. She’d make his favorite lasagna, even though she couldn’t stand it herself. And she’d look at him with those gray-green eyes in a way that always made his chest tighten.
They had been married for three years, and he still couldn’t believe his luck. Mike decided not to call, to make it a surprise. He bought her favorite almond chocolates at the airport gift shop, and the whole way to Maple Creek, he pictured her gasp when she saw him on the doorstep. Maybe she’d even cry with joy. Ellie was the kind of woman who cried when she was happy.
The cab from the airport got him there in forty minutes. Their house, a modest but solid craftsman in the suburbs, had been Mike’s father’s. He’d grown up here, brought his young wife here after the wedding, and planned to raise his own kids here.
As he approached, he noticed cars parked in the driveway. A lot of cars. His mother’s silver Hyundai, and two others he didn’t recognize. Lights were on, and even through the closed windows, he could hear music and women laughing. Mike frowned. That was odd. Ellie hadn’t mentioned any guests.
He paid the driver, grabbed his suitcase, and headed for the house. And that’s when he saw her. Ellie was sitting on the porch, huddled on the top step with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her shoulders were shaking. Even in the dim October twilight, he could see she was crying.
Mike’s heart dropped. He left his suitcase right on the walkway and was by her side in three strides.
“Ellie, what’s wrong?”
She flinched and looked up. Her face was wet with tears, her eyes red, mascara smudged on her cheek. Seeing her husband, she froze for a second, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. Then she threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest and sobbing out loud.
“Mike! Oh, Mike! You’re back! What’s happening? Why are you here? Who are all those people in the house?”
He could feel the dampness of her tears through his shirt, feel her small body trembling. A hot, thick wave of anxiety washed over him.
“They… they just…” Ellie sobbed, unable to finish.
“Hang on, hang on, sweetheart. I’ll figure this out.”
He gently pulled away, kissed the top of her head, and stepped toward the door.
Inside, the party was in full swing. In the living room sat his mother with four of her friends—Aunt Val, Brenda, and two other women Mike only knew by sight. Bottles of wine and platters of appetizers covered the coffee table. The air was thick with cigarette smoke and expensive perfume.
“Oh!” His mother was the first to spot him in the doorway. A strange expression flickered across her face. Not joy, but something more like annoyance, quickly hidden behind a smile. “Mikey! Sweetheart! What a surprise!”
Susan got up from the couch and walked toward him, her arms outstretched for a hug.
“Mom, what’s going on here?”
“What do you mean?” She hugged him, planting a red lipstick mark on his cheek. “The girls and I decided to get together, celebrate Brenda’s birthday. What’s the big deal?”
“Why at my house?”
“Well, where else? My place is a mess with the renovations, you know that. And your dear Ellie was kind enough to have us. Weren’t you, girls?”
Her friends nodded and chimed in, talking over each other about what a wonderful hostess Ellie was and how she’d taken care of them all evening.
“Then why is she sitting on the porch crying?”
His mother threw up her hands.
“Oh, is she really? The poor thing! She must be exhausted, bless her heart. She has a migraine, she said so herself. Asked us not to mind her if she stepped out for some air. Honey, what are you just standing there for? Come in, have a drink with us. Ladies, look how handsome my son is!”
Something was off in her voice. Mike had known his mother his whole life, knew all her inflections. She was talking a little too fast, a little too cheerfully, as if trying to distract him.
“Mom, hold on.” He gently stepped back. “I’m going to go talk to Ellie.”
“Oh, leave her be, she’ll be fine. Come on, have a glass of wine. Tell us about your trip.”
But Mike was already outside. Ellie was still on the steps, but she’d wiped her face and was now staring into the dark yard with a blank, empty gaze.
“Ellie.” He sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. She was cold, shivering. She was only wearing a thin dress, without even a sweater. “Tell me what happened.”
She was silent for a long time, then said quietly, almost in a whisper:
“You wouldn’t believe me anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s your mother. You always believe her, not me.”
The words landed between them like stones in a pond. Mike wanted to argue, but he stopped, because deep down, he felt a sharp sting of truth.
“Tell me,” he repeated. “Please.”
Ellie hesitated a moment longer, then began to speak.
“Susan showed up around four, no call, no warning. Just appeared on the doorstep with bags of groceries and announced they were having a little get-together for her friend’s birthday. I told her I wasn’t prepared for guests, that I had other plans for the evening. She…” Ellie’s voice trembled. “She laughed. She said my plans were watching TV and waiting for my husband like a little puppy. And that I should be grateful she even agreed to celebrate in this little box.”
Mike clenched his jaw.
“Go on.”
“They arrived around five. Made themselves right at home. I… I tried to be a good hostess, Mike. I really did. I set the table, served them, cleaned up.” Ellie swallowed hard. “And then Brenda asked your mom why she didn’t break us up before it was too late and marry you off to Veronica. Do you know what she said?”
“What?”
“‘Because he made his own choice. But don’t worry, give it a little more time and he’ll realize his mistake. Some lessons you have to learn on your own.’”
Mike said nothing. A cold knot was forming in his chest.
“I couldn’t take it anymore. I told her I wouldn’t tolerate that in my own home.”
“Your mother…” Ellie closed her eyes. “She looked at me very calmly and said, ‘Sweetheart, this is my late husband’s house and my son’s house. You’re just a temporary guest here. And if you don’t like it, there’s the door.’”
Silence hung in the air. From inside the house came the muffled sound of laughter and clinking glasses.
“So I left,” Ellie finished, her voice barely audible. “I couldn’t stay in there another second. I’ve been sitting out here for I don’t know how long. An hour, maybe two.”
Mike slowly stood up. His mind felt strangely empty, as if all his thoughts had vanished, replaced by something cold and hard.
“Wait here,” Mike said. “Just wait.”
He walked into the house.
“Mom.” His voice was even, almost calm. “The party’s over. It’s time for everyone to go home.”
“What?” Susan raised her eyebrows. “Mikey, what’s gotten into you? We just got started.”
“I said, it’s time for everyone to go home. Now.”
“Honey, you’re upset, I get it. But it’s just a little misunderstanding. Ellie is overreacting. You know how women can be…”
“Mom.” He took a step forward. “My wife has been sitting on the porch for two hours in October in a thin dress. Crying. She was kicked out of her own house. And you call that a misunderstanding?”
“Nobody kicked her out. She left on her own…”
“Enough.” The word cut through the air, and all the women fell silent. Even Susan stopped mid-sentence. “This is my house. And it’s my wife’s house. You are guests here. And when guests behave in a way that makes the hostess cry on her own porch, it’s time for the guests to leave.”
“Mike…” His mother’s face went pale. “You’re… you’re choosing her? Over me?”
“I’m just asking you and your friends to leave. Right now.”
For a minute, nothing happened. Then Brenda stood up and picked up her purse.
“Well, girls, I suppose it is getting late.”
The others started to gather their things. Susan stood in the middle of the living room, staring at her son as if seeing him for the first time.
“You’ll regret this,” she said quietly. “She doesn’t love you. She’s a gold-digger, just like all the others. She married you for this house and your salary.”
“Mom, please go.”
When the door closed behind the last guest, Mike went out to the porch. Ellie was looking at him with an expression he’d never seen before. There were tears in her eyes, but they were different tears now—not bitter, but grateful.
“You…” she couldn’t finish.
“Let’s go inside. You’re freezing.”
He took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders, then gently lifted her into his arms. She buried her nose in his neck and whispered:
“Thank you. I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For everything. For me not seeing it for so long. For not wanting to see it.”
He carried her into the house, set her down in an armchair, covered her with a blanket, and put the kettle on. Then he sat beside her and took her cold hands in his.
“Tell me everything,” he asked. “From the very beginning. Everything she said to you, everything she did. I want to know.”
Ellie looked into his eyes. A long, searching look, as if she was looking for something.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
And she began to tell him.
They had met three years ago, at the end of August. Ellie had just buried her grandmother—the only close relative she had left. Her parents had died in a car crash when she was twelve. Her Grandma Rose, her mother’s mom, took her in and raised her alone. And then she was gone—quietly, in her sleep. A heart attack. Ellie was left completely alone in a huge, indifferent world.
That evening, she was walking back from the cemetery. It was already dark, the streetlights were spotty, and she didn’t immediately notice the group of drunk guys heading toward her.
“Well, look what we have here!”
“Hey, baby, where you going?”
She tried to walk around them, but one of them grabbed her arm.
“What’s the hurry? Let’s hang out, have a chat.”
And then, out of the darkness, he appeared.
“Let her go.”
His voice was quiet, but there was something in it that made the guys sober up fast.
“Who are you?”
“Doesn’t matter. Let the lady go and be on your way.”
There were four of them, and he was alone. Tall and broad-shouldered, but still—one against four. Yet something in his eyes, in his stance, made them back down.
“Alright, alright. Calm down. We were just trying to be friendly.”
They left, muttering under their breath. And he stayed.
“Are you okay?”
Ellie nodded. The words were stuck in her throat.
“Let me walk you home. It’s not safe out here alone.”
He walked her all the way to her apartment building. They barely spoke on the way. She was too shaken to make conversation, and he didn’t push it. It was only at her door that she finally found her voice.
“Thank you. I… I don’t know what would have…”
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